Chapter 51: Surf's Up

Chloe sat in the common room, a pen and paper in hand, Eevee in her lap and Yamper curled up at her feet. She tapped the pen against her chin in thought, her mind a thousand miles away when she heard the door open, snapping back to reality as Goh stepped through the door.

"I'm back!"

"Hey, Goh! How'd it go?"

"You're now looking at an official challenger of Project Mew!"

"That's great! Congratulations!"

Goh flopped down onto the couch, exhausted.

"Phew! I tell ya, that trial was brutal! It's a good thing The Professor is at that conference for a few days, because I feel like I could sleep through Friday!"

"Just don't forget to do your homework."

"Alright, mom."

Chloe rolled her eyes before returning to her thoughts. At that moment, Goh took notice of her odd activity.

"What's with the notepad? Did you take up journalism, or something?"

"No, it's for a school project. We're to write a research paper on anything we want, as long as it relates to Pokemon. And, well…I'm stuck."

"Well, what do you have so far?"

"Nothing, except…something to do with Grass Pokemon, and even that was just a toss out."

Goh nodded, trying to think of suggestions that might interest her, but without luck.

"When's it due."

"End of the school year."

Goh shrugged, and waved it off.

"Then don't worry about it. You've got plenty of time to think of something."

"Yeah, you're right. Besides, it's a beautiful day out. Much too nice to spend it worrying about this."

"Exactly."

Just then, Ash and Lillie came in, dressed for a day at the beach.

"Hey Goh, how'd it go with Project Mew?"

"I'm in!"

"Sweet! Congratulations!"

"Thanks Lillie. What's with the get up, though?"

"We figured that since it's such a nice day out, why not go to the beach? There's a ferry going out to Lilycove City leaving in an hour. You guys want to come?"

Chloe and Goh exchanged a look, before shrugging their shoulders.

"Yeah, sure. Why not?"


An hour and a half later, the four teens were on a beach at Lilycove City, basking in the sun.

"Ah man, after being on that freezing mountain for a day, I'd forgotten how good the sun felt."

"And I can't remember the last time I've been able to sit down and relax! Great idea, guys."

Lillie flopped down onto the beach towel, enjoying the sun.

"It reminds me of being back home in Alola."

Just then, they heard a commotion coming from the shoreline. Intrigued, the quartet ran over to see what the fuss was about. Out on the open water, a blonde male was surfing, his Vaporeon on the back of his board. The Water Type howled, creating a huge wave that rose up above them, but they remained unfazed by it. Instead, they paddled right up to it and rode it right onto shore, much to the audience's applause.

"Who's that guy?" Ash asked a random passerby, who scoffed.

"What, have you been living under a rock for the past 5 years? That's Kiley Jetson, the top ranked surfer in the world!"

Ash shrugged, not really knowing how to respond.

"Sorry, I don't keep up with that."

"Yeah, the only sport Ash pays attention to is Pokemon Battling!"

Ash shot Goh a dirty look, but said nothing. Chloe's Eevee, on the other hand, was eyeing the Vaporeon with great interest. As soon as the surfer duo made it onto the beach, Eevee leapt out of Chloe's arms and ran right towards them.

"Eevee, come back!"

Kiley was busy signing autographs when he saw a tiny brown blur running at him. Eevee ran right up to his Vaporeon, tail wagging as he admired his evolution. Vaporeon, curious by the normal type, sniffed her before giving her a playful lick, making Kiley smile.

"Eevee, you shouldn't run off like that!"

At last, Chloe and the others caught up to the evolution Pokemon, panting heavily.

"I'm sorry if she caused you any trouble."

"Nah, no worries. Looks like Vaporeon made a new friend!"

Sure enough, Eevee and Vaporeon were running around in circles, playing a game of tag. Chloe breathed a sigh of relief, glad her Eevee hadn't caused too much trouble.

"Hey, are you guys staying long? I'm giving out surfing lessons later, if you want to hang around."

The quartet immediately signed up.

"Great! It starts in an hour. See you then."


An hour later, the quartet joined the rest of the class, which was pretty small.

"Huh, given how popular he is, you'd think there'd be more people."

Once everyone had gotten settled in, Kiley started the lesson. At first, he had them practice on the beach, teaching them about balance and control. Once they had gotten that down, they took to the water to

"Just stay relaxed, and let the board do the work."

Ash and Lillie, having mantine surfed in Alola, were naturals at the sport. Goh struggled at first, but managed to get the hang of it after a while. Chloe, on the other hand, was struggling. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't keep upright, and fell overboard everytime. After the fifth attempt, she just sighed, and gave up.

"It's hopeless. I'll never get it."

Sensing her trainer's despair, Eevee nudged her encouragingly, making Chloe smile.

"You still think I can do it, Eevee?"

"Vee!"

"Alright then, I'll give it another go!"

With renewed confidence, Chloe got back up and tried again. It took a few more tries, but she finally managed to balance on the board.

"I did it!"

"Alright!"

"Way to go, Chloe!"

Just then, Goh spotted a shadow approaching Chloe's surfboard from behind.

"Chloe, look out!"

"Huh-AAH!"

A Huntail emerged from the waves, teeth barred and ready to attack…

"Hydro Pump!"

Only to be blasted away by an attack from Vaporeon, sending him flying off into the distance. Chloe breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, Kiley!"

"Don't mention it. Bring it in, everyone!"


Later, as the sun started to set, the beach had a big bonfire for all the tourists. Chloe sat down on a log, enjoying the cool breeze. Kiley was going around, passing out hot drinks when he handed her one.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

Chloe looked over at her Eevee, who was playing with Kiley's Vaporeon. KIley noticed this as well and chuckled.

"They sure do like each other, huh?"

"Yeah. Hey Kiley, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"You caught your Vaporeon as an Eevee, right?"

"Yep, my first Pokemon!"

"How did you know what you wanted him to evolve into?"

Kiley chuckled, and gazed off into the distance in remembrance.

"Actually, Vaporeon made the choice himself. He loved the water so much that it just seemed natural to him to evolve into Vaporeon, so he dragged me to the department store and begged me to buy him a Water Stone. And with the cute little face he made, I just couldn't say no! Why do you ask?"

"My Eevee isn't sure what she wants to evolve into. I was hoping you might be able to give me some advice."

"Hmm…hold up for a minute."

Kiley disappeared for a moment, returning with a Water Stone.

"I found this in an underwater cave a while back. Why not give it a try?"

Chloe held the stone out to Eevee, who sniffed at it in thought. She held her paw out for a minute, but retracted it after another moment of thought. Chloe just shrugged in understanding.

"Ah well, it was worth a shot. Here Kiley, you can have it back."

"Keep it. She might change her mind."

"Are you sure?"

"No worries, I'm not going to use it."

"Alright, thanks!"

After the bonfire, the quartet said goodbye to KIley and caught the next ferry back to Vermillion City.

"Well, that was a fun day!"

"Did you guys have fun?"

"Totally! What about you, Chloe?"

"I sure did! Plus, I figured out what to do for my project! I'm going to write my paper on Eevee and her evolutions! Plus, it'll be a great way for Eevee to find out what she wants to evolve into!"

"Evoi!"

And so, the quartet returned home, a day of fun in the sun behind them, but plenty of more adventures ahead of them.